Piano Forum

As you might know, there exists within Liszt's output an obscenely demanding etude from his Paganini arrangements, S140.

I just have three questions:

1. Are there any Liszt etudes as hard or harder than it, technically speaking?
2. Are there any Liszt PIECES technically harder than it? (Movements will be pieces).
3. Are there any other 19th century etudes as hard or harder than it? Like those of Alkan, Mereaux, etc. Again, movements are pieces, so the Alkan Solo Concerto is not "one etude" in this comparison.

Thanks!

I don't want to sound like I'm ruining the party here, but it really depends. This etude is incredibly difficult, yes, but different pianists find different things more challenging.  Let's just take perhaps the most "famous" of the set, La Campanella. Some people struggle intensely with the final page with rapid raging octaves, yet for some other pianists it is the easiest section of the entire work and find the sections with huge leaps more difficult. How do you judge that?

For me, yes, there are definitely more difficult liszt etudes out there. But, that's for me.